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travel, outdoors and good times.

Budapest for backpackers.

So, last week whilst I should have been studying for my exams my inner-backpacker surfaced and I went to Budapest for 6 days instead. Smart idea, I know.

Budapest is an amazing city with tonnes to offer.

Where to stay

Deciding where to stay is always a difficult choice, especially with Budapest since there are so many places (hostels in particular) with 9/10+ ratings. However, I would look no further than Carpe Noctem Original (OG for short) – in other words the best fucking hostel on the planet. I’ve stayed at many hostels but I’d say there’s only one other than I’ve been to that comes remotely close to this place. It feels like you’re staying at a mate’s place for a few days not at a hostel. The staff are so cool and become more like friends. It’s also extremely easy to meet, well actually impossible to not meet people. There’s a different activity every day and night and even “family dinner” in the evening. Do no more research and book this fucking hostel!!! (It’s cheap too)

Things to do

Budapest is full of stuff to get up to so you’ll never be bored. If you’re not too hungover during the day, head over to the Buda side of town and see the Castle, Palace and Fisherman’s Bastion. These are all sick sites and will get you all da insta likes you could wish for.

If you’re staying at a hostel and especially a party hostel like OG, expect to start drinking alcohol at around 7pm or earlier. Each night activities can range from ruin bar crawls to boat parties and Spa parties (SPARTY!!!). I’d recommend doing all of these activities if time permits as they are awesome as fuck. The boat party was 7500 HUF which included a bottle of champagne and SPARTY was 12000HUF which was just a cover fee. During the day though, the thermal baths are only 4700HUF.

At a PARTY on a BOAT with a whole bottle of CHAMPAGNE and the coolest people. What’s not to love??

Chill out at Szechenyi Thermal Baths during the day then go all out at the SPARTY in the evening (right through til 3am).

Take a stroll up to Fisherman’s Bastion to cure your hangover.

Drink and Food

I never ate out at night mostly because my hostel offered “family dinner” (a meal cooked by staff) for 700HUF (cheap as fuckkkk).

One day for lunch me and a few friends I made at the hostel went to the no.1 restaurant in Budapest on tripadvisor. It was AMAZING. The place was called Comme Chez Soi and sold everything from steak to pizza. The service was absolutley amazing and we even got some free wine, sorbet and Italian liquor. For 4 people we paid around 22000HUF which for the no.1 restaurant in the city is a steal!

For drunk food, hit up one of the many many kebab stands around town and grab a kebab for as little as 500HUF!!

Comme Chez Soi. No.1 rated on tripadvisor. Must check this place out.

Alcohol in Budapest is not expensive at all. We pre-drank most nights at the hostel, mainly drinking $1 bottles of wine from the supermarket. But even at the bars and clubs you can get a vodka for as little as 500HUF and a good beer for 600HUF which is decent. Be sure to check out Fény Shots – carbonated vodka shots which are scientifically the quickest way to get drunk. They taste pretty good too which is a bonus. There are many ruin bars across the city with Szimpla Kert being the most famous. However, I preferred other smaller places like Anker’t and Kuplung.

Anker’t Ruin Bar. Be sure to try a “Zubrowka and Apple” from this place – 10/10.

“What’s your real job Jonny?” Me after one too many beers.

Other things to do in the city could include GETTING A TATTOO…. Yes that’s right I got my first fucking tattoo in Budapest. I actually got 2. Zero regrets. I went to Knuckle Up Budapest and they were great. The owner is a former backpacker himself and is totally clued up on what he is doing.

Map of Europe and Africa. The smallest of my tattoos.

There you have it. Backpacker’s guide to Budafknpest. Overall I spent around 100,000HUF which for 6 days I didn’t think was too bad. It could of course be done much cheaper but I treated myself many a time and that also includes the cost of both tattoos.